Did Gaga intentionally shade the music industry?

[sipthistea 21,099]

To those who have seen the film and have already listened to the soundtrack...

Did Gaga intentionally make the pop generic songs to shade the music industry by making seem Ally like a sellout? 

[Doot 2]

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but as far as I know, that’s a plot line in the movie. 

[kvnrp 48,353]

Isn't that part of the story?

Also, if Gaga made the songs too much like "Gaga" then critics could come for her by probably recycling material for the film.

[gag 22,449]

Spoiler

I wouldn't call it 'shade' towards the music industry because she didn't imply that there was anything bad about pop per se, but Heal Me and WDYDT definitely represents her 'selling out'.

It's a major plot point too because Jackson and Ally get into an argument over her new music.

 

[Sneaky Oliver 20,249]

No, she didn't write the script of the movie. 

[Battle 4 Ur Life 5,884]

watch out for spoilers guys! dang

[Sunny 12,234]

Spoiler

I think it's clear shade, and they even mentioned Interscope records. I honestly don't know Interscope allowed it, it was such a big **** you to them

 

[justanothergay 2,486]

Kind of, but I think a lot of people are missing the point. They aren’t saying that pop music is “bad,” they’re saying that music which has nothing to say isn’t great. Pop music is the vessel for that in the film.

[Suspiria 10,683]

23 minutes ago, justanothergay said:

Kind of, but I think a lot of people are missing the point. They aren’t saying that pop music is “bad,” they’re saying that music which has nothing to say isn’t great. Pop music is the vessel for that in the film.

Yeah. It's not the pop music that's bad, it's the lyrics that are. The change in instrumentation/genre is never mentioned in the film, but Jackson mocks Ally's lyrics.

He does mock her for having dancers but I think that's just more of a "I'm a man, I'm old school" kind of thing.

[crackpoppodcast 1,453]

There’s a lot in the movie that I feel reflects her struggle as staying true to her artistry in the superficiality of the pop world. What stuck with me is when Jackson takes her to the balcony where her billboard is and offers advice and says she’s got a beautiful story to tell and a beautiful way to tell it and it doesn’t matter about how many people are still listening, what matters is that she’s said what she needs to say. And that my friends was intentional, absolutely. “ARTPOP is the end of the beginning of my career” and since then, we’ve gotten deeper and more meaningful content from our queen. ❤️

[Miel 15,009]

In the context of the pop music versus roots rock music conversation, it's actually really interesting and nuanced. @justanothergay makes a great point in that, although the pop music can be seen as "stupid" and "shallow" (hehe), it's not necessarily bad. We don't get an explicit context of whether or not Ally sold out and just wrote a bunch of tepid pop songs, but she does get defensive over her artistry; whereas, Jackson thinks her music has "nothing to say".

The verbal altercation scene in the tub is absolutely incredible, and hold a lot of weight. It's Ally, talented and passionate but possibly selling out as her star is being born, versus Jackson, old-fashioned and rootsy and but growing jealous and weary as his star dies out.

It's totally on the nose, the amount of times he sing "maybe it's time to let the old ways die". He firmly believes in his kind of masculine, "authentic" rock-and-roll- and whether or not Ally's pop music was shallow or a sell-out, he would have clashed with it either way.

That said, I was surprised that "Heal Me" didn't have the shallow lyrics that WDYDT and HBF had. It's really well-written.

[Miel 15,009]

Also, I feel like the most on-the-nose reference to the music industry is the manager.

[ShayCristoforo 10,280]

2 hours ago, Sneaky Oliver said:

No, she didn't write the script of the movie. 

Facts. But I also bet she really enjoyed that opportunity in the script. And totally didn't mind cooperating in the shade of it all haha 

[Biden Harris 2024 1,451]

I do think that the message of substance over sales is definitely something that promotes Gaga's way of thinking. I also think there's probably alot of truth in how horrible and ruthless music managers are these days and how they affect musicians in general and how they have affected Gaga's life.

[CannaeDrive 3,393]

Maybe but she already did that herself, case in point SXSW Keynote in 2014: